EC refers Estonia, 4 more members to court for not connecting to its driving licenses network ({{commentsTotal}})

The European Commission has decided to refer Estonia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to correctly transpose its rules on driving licenses.

Among other things, the Directive 2006/126/EC against which Estonia has erred, introduced new driving license categories, harmonized validity of driving license documents and created a shared information network RESPER. These rules were meant to help reduce the possibility of fraud, by putting an end to the so-called „driving license tourism“ - attempts by drivers to avoid national restrictions, such as driving bans, by acquiring new licenses from EU countries where they do not actually reside.

While Estonia implemented most of the new rules, it failed to join the network for the exchange of driving license information RESPER.

RESPER network was created to ensure that a person does not hold more than one driving license and only drive vehicles in categories for which they are qualified and authorized. This contributes to achieving one of the key objectives of the directive, namely, to improve road safety, the EC explained in a statement.

The exchange of information through RESPER should have started on January 19, 2013.

The EC opened infringement proceedings in July 2014, and sent a reasoned opinion to the Estonia and others in February 2015.

Yet, as it stands today, Estonia has still failed to comply with the directive, and the Commission has therefore decided to refer the case to court.

Following the local elections in October this year, Reform Party founder, former prime minister, EU commissioner, and presidential candidate Siim Kallas took on the job of municipal mayor of Viimsi, a community on the outskirts of Tallinn. In his interview with ERR's Toomas Sildam, Kallas talks about local government, his party, the EU presidency, and perspectives in Estonian politics.